The federal government on Wednesday posted notice that it is considering opening up 400,000 acres of public land in California, and 1.2 million acres for which the government holds mineral rights, to fracking, the controversial oil and gas drilling practice linked to earthquakes in Oklahoma and groundwater pollution there and in other states.
The land at stake lies in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties, the Bureau of Land Management said.
The announcement is just the latest anti-environment move by the Trump administration that directly affects California. It's unclear whether the administration is purposely attacking California to punish the state for its deep and vocal opposition to Trump policies, or whether the state simply falls victim to the president's boneheaded approach to the environment.
Also on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross directed the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make available water whose use is governed by the Endangered Species Act for California firefighting _ even though firefighters say they don't need it.
"Secretary Ross's directive is nothing more than a smokescreen designed to weaken these protections that (National Marine Fisheries Service) scientists determined are necessary to keep these native fish from going extinct," said Kate Poole, senior director of the water division for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Ross' move followed Trump's confused (I know) tweets about the fires being such a problem because California water is "foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean." Um, no. And fire officials say they have all the water they need to fight the fires. The biggest factor is bone-dry forests, exacerbated by climate change-related droughts.
But wait _ there's more. The administration earlier announced that it would sell leases for offshore oil and gas wells in nearly every part of federal waters _ except Florida, where the Republican governor squawked and where the president just happens to have his "Winter White House" at Mar-a-Lago. The likelihood of additional drilling off California's coast isn't very high _ the feds might sell leases but the state controls how and where that oil comes ashore, and good luck getting those permits.
The president also has targeted the Obama-era Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, which sets aside specific areas in a 10.8-million-acre parcel in California for solar and wind farms _ in places where they would cause the least environmental damage. Trump wants to open up more of that land for energy production, and is reviewing whether to open more space for off-road vehicles, mining and grazing.
And don't forget his effort to deny California the right to set motor vehicle emissions standards for vehicles sold and operated here, and to weaken fuel economy standards _ which would have a significant impact on California air quality.
All this from an administration run by a guy who thinks climate change is a hoax, that he can resurrect the coal industry (slowly dying because of market forces favoring cheaper energy sources), and that it is in the nation's best interests to ramp up energy production from fossil fuels.
